Monday, November 25, 2013

Monday musings - more thinking about V1212

Our plucky heroine was quite pleasantly surprised at all the good suggestions over on Stitcher Guild, as far as possible ways to improve the fit, and will be doing just a bit more reshaping of the pattern pieces on the bodice fitting part of this project...

The next time I take pictures I will try and remember to stand normally and not with my arms held out at an angle, I never stand that way but thought it might show the muslin more clearly, not thinking that it also might throw off how the bodice fit or didn't fit... am also thinking about going ahead and adding the muslin for the coat "skirts" as I suspect that the weight of the lower half of the garment will have an effect on how the bodice hangs; I know that it can make a significant difference in dresses, and I don't want to get the bodice to a good place only to find that once the skirt portion is added that the entire thing needs to be re-fitted!!

As far as the side front panel and the slanted side seam: what I tried last night, just before bedtime, was to pin out a small dart at the top armscye edge just inside the side seam... that seemed to do the trick as far as getting the side seam to become vertical, and also smoothed out the excess fabric that was bunching on the back panel...

Once I actually get to the point of making a wearable muslin, in corduroy as opposed to the muslin muslins that I am currently making, then I intend to add in the "motorcyle armscye gusset" which will add a lot of mobility to the sleeve and preclude hopefully any uncomfortable pulling if I move my arms. I plumb hate clothing that constricts my movement, and while I could simply make the entire coat extra big in proportion, I know from experience that this sort of gusset allows movement while also allowing a closer fit, and that closer fit is half of why I started this whole project in the first place

My intention is to have the center front and center back waistline seams be somewhat above my natural waist, because while in the back, my waistline is somewhat close to normal proportion vertically, in the front my tummy means that the narrow portion is where my bra band lies, which is rather higher than I would want the waistline to be, so I will put the top edge of the curve about an inch lower than that, which is where the raised waist on my pinafores sits, as well... If I brought the top of the curve lower, then the clothing I wear underneath the coat would be all bunched up most uncomfortably.

This project is really giving me an even deeper education on how my own proportions differ from "standard"; it has been over ten years since my last stab at working out a TNT pattern, because it always involves this amount of effort. This is why my wardrobe sewing involves using the same patterns over and over again, ringing changes with different fabrics or design details, but basically the same garments: a knit top, two dresses, and three different pinafores. (with a button front blouse and a pair of pants, neither of which are yet in my group of TNT patterns, pretty much all possible clothing needs would be covered, if I also include this coat...) I suspect that once I get this one to a comfortable fit, that it will prove useful for an assortment of garments - I can visualise a jacket easily, or a vest either long, mid length or even short like a bolero...

2 comments:

I am eagerly following along as you work through your bodice fitting challenge. We share many of the same fit issues- narrow shoulders, full bust, barely a handspan between bust and waist, and what I refer to as my snowman shape. You are brave indeed to tackle this. My big fitting challenge for next year is the tshirt, and like you I've decided princess seams and raglan sleeves will be my best choice. I ride my bike to work in all sorts of wet weather and hope to tackle a raincoat soon.

Glad that my struggles with this pattern are of use to someone besides myself! Good luck with the tee shirt project, one thing is that they are a lot faster to stitch up than a raincoat... also, I used thrifted jersey sheets for my tee shirt muslins, as those were far cheaper than knit fabric...